Hancock’s relationship
with City financier Neil Record was uncovered by a Greenpeace
investigation published Friday.According to official state records,
Hancock accepted five separate donations over a period of several
years from the wealthy backer.

Record is an unrepentant climate skeptic who is on the board of
Britain’s most powerful climate skeptic lobby, the Global Warming
Policy (GWF) Foundation. The currency manager and City financier
also sits on the board of GWF’s campaigning division.

Hancock, who will run for reelection as a Tory MP for West
Suffolk, has accepted yearly cash handouts of £4,000 from Record
since 2011, according to the Electoral Commission. Additionally,
the Tory MP received £2,000 in “travel costs” from
Record in 2010.

The latest £4,000 donation handed to Hancock was given to the
Conservative MP after he became energy and climate change
minister in November 2014.

Although the Tories have received over £300,000 from Record in
total, Hancock is the only individual MP to secure such financial
backing, the Electoral Commission’s records reveal.

Financial backers of Britain’s Global Warming Policy Foundation
are afforded anonymity as the climate skeptic lobby is registered
as an “educational charity.”

The group’s director, former Conservative Chancellor of the
Exchequer Nigel Lawson, denies claims it is funded by “fossil
fuel interests,” according to environmental advocacy group
Greenpeace.

Nevertheless, Hancock’s climate skepticism is apparent.

The energy and climate change minister openly signaled his
support for fracking in 2012 when he produced a Conservative Free
Enterprise Group report calling for the government to cut wind
subsidies and go ahead with shale gas drilling.

Two years later, a handwritten memo of Hancock’s to the CEO of
onshore gas company Igas was released under the Freedom of
Information (FoI) Act. The note told Austin: “Onshore oil and
gas is a key agenda for me.”

Greenpeace executive director John Sauven said Hancock’s position
on climate change is clear.

“It says something that we have an energy and climate change
minster who hates wind, loves fracking, and accepts large sums of
cash from a central figure in a notorious and secretive climate
skeptic lobby group,” he told RT.

“Meanwhile, the government has introduced a ‘Lobbying Act’
that does nothing to combat the power of money in politics but
instead gags charities and grassroots organizations that seek to
hold power to account.”

Record has previously gloated about the power of political
donations to broker access to the top echelons of the
Conservative Party. The Daily Mail quoted him as describing the
access a £50,000 ($75,000) a year membership to the Leaders Group
can provide as “discreet and nicely done.”

“You get 10 people around the table. There will be five
minutes from David [Cameron] about what they want to do. And then
it’s any questions,” he reportedly said.

RT attempted to speak with Hancock by telephone on Friday to ask
whether he believes the donations he received from Record are
legitimate. He could not be immediately reached for comment,
however.

Probed on whether the energy and climate change minister has ever
discussed energy policy with Record, a spokeswoman for Hancock
told The Guardian: “All donations are declared publicly and
proper process [is] followed.”

Record also told the paper he never discussed energy policy with
Hancock.

“I have never discussed energy policy or climate change with
Matthew. Our discussions tend to center round our mutual interest
in economics (we both started our careers as economists at the
Bank of England),” he said.

“I believe that the important scientific enquiry required for
us to understand man’s effect on the climate is being hampered by
a monolithic ‘establishment’ view that the science is
settled.”

Record added that he thinks some of the “current popular
political choices for carbon reduction (wind; solar in high
latitudes) are woefully inefficient and unsustainable.”

Caroline Flint, Labour’s shadow energy and climate change
secretary, said the relationship between Hancock and Record
illustrates “why the Tories can’t tackle climate change and
have zero credibility on this issue.”

She added: “The Tory party all the way to the top are not the
right people to negotiate a better deal for the world to tackle
climate change.”

RT asked the Department
of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) to comment on Hancock’s
relationship with Record, but a spokeswoman for the department
declined.